The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to an engine mounting configuration and, in particular, to an engine mounting configuration for mounting a turbofan gas turbine engine to an aircraft pylon.
A gas turbine engine may be mounted at various points on an aircraft such as a pylon integrated with an aircraft structure. An engine mounting configuration ensures the transmission of loads between the engine and the aircraft structure. The loads typically include the weight of the engine, its thrust, aerodynamic loads, maneuver loads, and rotary torque about the engine axis. The engine mounting configuration must also absorb the deformations to which the engine is subjected during different flight phases and the dimensional variations due to thermal expansion and retraction.
One conventional engine mounting configuration includes a pylon having a forward mount and an aft mount. The front fan case mount handles the vertical and side loads from the front of the engine. The rear mount handles vertical and side loads from the rear of the engine, engine torque, and thrust through a set of thrust links reaching from the rear mount forward to the intermediate case.
External components including mounts, electrical systems, lubrication systems, fuel systems, and the like all reside on the outside shell of the engine core. As engines are becoming small in core size, these components tend not to scale linearly, if at all, in size causing an issue for the proper attachment of the hardware to the smaller sized engine casings. The typical mounting systems include numerous poles and brackets, which extend into areas also needed for the additional hardware. A system that would reduce the size of the mounting system, and thus the time to attach the engine to an aircraft, would prove beneficial.